Want to be a thought leader? Start here

In my career in marketing and public relations, I have worked side-by-side with many executives looking to expand their profiles as thought leaders. We’ve created and executed plans that drive new business leads while helping their companies stand out in the crowd.

The specifics of this work depends on one’s industry, position and specific goals, but there are some general guidelines that can help anyone get started down this path.

There are three things you must do when you begin building your resume as a thought leader:

Define your areas of expertise

Build content to showcase them

Share your content and engage your audience

In future posts, I will dive into more details on how to tackle each of these three steps toward thought leadership. For those of you who have content cycling through your channels that you are ready to repurpose, consider whether you’re leveraging all of the following strategies:

Website/Blog: Promote your content on your owned channels.

Social media: Explore new and existing channels. Follow other thought leaders, engage your current followers and promote your professional activities (whether that’s an appearance at an event or a new website launch).

Host quarterly webinars, partnering with similar thought leaders or companies to have an engaging discussion.

Be available to reporters seeking experts for articles on your industry.

Create a video series.

Secure speaking engagements at conferences that attract businesses you’d like to work with or employees you’d like to attract. (Drive PR opportunities and social content out of these engagements as well.)

Launch a series of white papers or e-books (longer-form content).

What other ways do you drive thought leadership success? Share your thoughts in the comments!